It is just two months since Nightjack, the anonymous blog written by a police detective, was singled out for an Orwell prize. "It would have fascinated him," wrote a Guardian editorial in praise of the site.

"What is already there should be read by anyone who has a view on policing. It is not subtle, but it is real... His depressing conclusion is that every town has its 'multi generational families of wasters, self sundered from the worlds of work, education, law or personal responsibility'. This is life as the police see it. Read it, even if only to disagree."

Today, Nightjack is silent and the blog, in its entirety, deleted after Mr Justice Eady ruled that bloggers have no right to privacy in what is essentially the public act of publishing. Eady overturned an injunction that had prevented the Times from revealing the identity of Richard Norton - the detective behind the blog, following neatly in the paper's tradition of outing anonymous bloggers.

The case of Nightjack is complex, not least because he wove details of real cases into his blog posts, and compromised several of the cases he worked on. But Zoe Margolis - the sex blogger who published under the pseudonym 'Abby Lee' on Girl With a One Track Mind - was another victim of the paper and one with no obvious public interest objective for a journalist to reveal her identity.

"Those of us who have chosen to be anonymous online, have done so with good reason; so after losing my own anonymity, and experiencing first hand the ruthless behaviour of some elements of the press, I will continue to fight for the right of other bloggers to keep their identity hidden," wrote Margolis today.

Overall, there's a shift online away from anonymity. In the context of social networking, an identity, a profile picture, a name and more contextual information 'humanise' the conversation and encourage more constructive, less aggressive comments and discussions because posters are accountable for their contributions.

Anonymity is a precious and often over-used tool, and for too long, it was a default state online. Justice Eady's ruling seems too black and white; Nightjack could have no reasonable expectation to anonymity because "blogging is essentially a public rather than a private activity".

But there are occasions when anonymity is a powerful and necessary tool and a right that protects whistleblowers and brings important issues to light. A blanket ruling that disregards that right is very bad news indeed.